Letter: The right way to choose a new commission president

Sir: It is an extraordinary spectacle to have John Major, Prime Minister of the country that has always presumed to teach the rest of the world about democratic behaviour, in a minority of one against 11, and trying to present this as a stand against continental dictatorship. This is all the more extraordinary for the head of a government whose legitimacy is based on a slim overall majority in Parliament and on no more than the largest minority of votes in the country at large.

What is worse is that while Margaret Thatcher, insufferable as the continentals found her and mistaken as many of us thought she was, at least stood on the principle of the nation state as a vital and indestructible entity, John Major seems to be acting up chiefly to keep his Eurosceptics on side.

But worst of all, his stand, besides uniting the rest of Europe against Britain, is only likely to turn him into the prisoner of the Eurosceptics he is seeking to shut up.